Tactic Help, my tactic leaks goals almost constantly

[Eliphino]

Hey Guys. Basically, my team just cannot defend and although they will generally outscore most opposition I'd much prefer a few more nice 2-0's than more endless 3-2

wins and i just can't figure out how to manage that. I like my team to play a short passing game, building attacks in the midfield. Previously with this tactic I've tried Close Down More but I removed it because it was to unstable, but I still have the same problems in that my team almost randomly condeceds and in no common way either. What makes it more confusing is that I'm at a good team (wolfsburg) and my defenders all have great attributes. Here's my tactic, sorry for the lack of pictures

Mentallity - Standard

Fluidity - Rigid

TI's -

Shorter Passing

Work Ball Into Box

Use Tighter Marking

GK - Distribute to defenders

FB(S) - Hold Position

CB(D) - Pass It Shorter

CB(D) - Pass It Shorter

FB(A)

BBM - Close Down More, Dribble More

DLP(D)

W(A)

AP(A) - Close Down More

W(S)

CF(S)

Sorry if I've not supplied enough information or anything and cheers for any help

[maztheplaya]

The obvious problem I see is Tight Marking, it drags your defenders all over the place and creates quite a lot of gaps into your defense.

Another potential problem is the Pass It Shorter PI on your defenders. You should use the TI Play out of Defense if you want your defenders to pass shorter, but then the problem might be your defenders arent capable of getting the ball out of defense when under pressure, in this case you need to let them to just hoof the ball forward, should save you some goals.

But the best thing I can say is that you should watch the matches and see if you notice any patterns on how you are conceading goals.

[ntw001]

I might be wrong, but a rigid mentality, with wingers in the AM strata, might mean they don't track back to help out defending.

IIRC Rigidity defines how far players will roam from their position on the pitch and vary from their tactical instructions to help out the team.

I'd agree with the other poster about looking at how you concede goals, but my guess is you are getting overloaded down the flanks.

[maztheplaya]

I might be wrong, but a rigid mentality, with wingers in the AM strata, might mean they don't track back to help out defending.

IIRC Rigidity defines how far players will roam from their position on the pitch and vary from their tactical instructions to help out the team.

You are talking about Fluidity, Fluidity affects Creative Freedom, on Rigid players dont have as much of it.

In wwfans 12 Step Guide. A Rigid system is defined as:

Rigid: Players are assigned a responsibility that contributes to a specific element of play (Defence, defence & transition, transition & attack, attack)

The Wingers in the AM strat would fall into the transition and attack category. But their mentality is set by the Mentality option, in the OPs case is Standard. The Winger on Support will help on defense a bit, but the one on Attack wont help as much. And he has a Fullback also on Attack on that side. That might prove problematic.

A possible solution to this is to man mark the opponents fullbacks and this will ensure the Wingers hill help out on defense, but it may hinder them on attack if they lack the Stamina and Work Rate.

[llama3]

I would change your philosophy to Balanced as it will increase the forward movement of your full backs and improve relationship with your wingers - you also have 2.5 specialist roles, so I would go with wwfan's advice on a Balanced philosophy too. I would also look to get your wingers sat in Midfield strata instead, they will contribute offensively, but it can help shut off the large spaces in the flanks which pull your central midfield all over the place. You could potentially try a more aggressive press and see less problems of players being pulled out of position with a 4-man midfield line. I agree with the above advice on go for "play out of defence" TI instead of "pass shorter" PI and I would also agree with removing tight marking for the above mentioned reasons